Cambridgeshire's top cop is to stand down after seven years as police chief

Cambridgeshire’s top cop is to stand down after seven years as head of the county’s police force.

Nick Dean, the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire Constabulary, has announced he will retire from the service in September.

A police spokesperson said: “Chief Constable Nick Dean’s contract has come to an end and he will be leaving in September.”

His pending departure has brought a call from Peterborough’s MP for a renewed focus on ‘visible’ neighbourhood policing in the city.

Mr Dean was appointed Chief Constable in September 2018.

He has served 31 years as a police officer, five of which have been in Cambridgeshire, where he became Chief Constable in September 2018.

Mr Dean first joined Norfolk Constabulary in September 1992, where he progressed through each rank up to Chief Superintendent, serving in uniform and crime investigation roles.

Prior to being promoted to Assistant Chief Constable, he was head of CID and then Chief Superintendent for the county’s local policing structure.

He was appointed Temporary Assistant Chief Constable in Norfolk in June 2013 and was made substantive ACC in May 2016; he became temporary Deputy Chief Constable (DCC) in October 2016.

Mr Dean was promoted to DCC in February 2017 and joined Cambridgeshire Constabulary as Chief Constable in September 2018.

Just two months ago, Mr Dean confirmed that he would be allocating additional officers and PCSOs to Peterborough after the county force was awarded £2 million from the Government’s £200 million boost to enable police forces nationally to recruit neighbourhood policing teams.

Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes had written to Mr Dean urging that more be done to ease widespread concerns about the visibility and availability of police in Peterborough city centre and the surrounding area.

Mr Pakes said: “I’d like to put on record my thanks for the Chief Constable for his contribution to policing and community safety in the county.

"Leading a high profile public service is never an easy job, even more so in these difficult times.

He added: “Looking to the future, I would like to see the next Chief Constable step up the focus on neighbourhood policing.

"The force has received extra funding for neighbourhood police and we need to see the dividends of that through more officers in Peterborough with the time to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.”